Stephanie — CANADA 🇨🇦
From practitioner pain to a practice built around Face Up
At 33, after 14 years in the beauty industry, her own body was already paying the price for the career she loved. She came to Face Up looking for a deeper way to work with her clients. What changed afterwards went much further than their faces.
She had explored other facial sculpting trainings, but none offered the mind-body connection she was looking for.
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“For me, it was Face Up or nothing.”
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I knew in my heart that there was something so much deeper and meaningful to offer, something to encourage clients to FEEL rather than ‘fix’.
Eventually, she realised she was investing her time, energy and creative freedom into somebody else’s dream.
For 14 years, she worked at a large spa in her city. She loved working with people, but over time, the direction of the beauty industry began to feel increasingly disconnected from the kind of practitioner she wanted to be.
To progress financially, she was being encouraged to offer services such as laser — treatments that simply didn’t align with her.
14 years in beauty — and something no longer felt right
She got on the plane anyway.
And what happened during and after the training became much more personal than she had expected.
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I was absolutely terrified that I would somehow fail. I never had the opportunity in the past to invest in my vision, so to finally be able to felt scary and exciting
By the time she found Face Up, she had finally stepped away from the spa environment and started building her own solo practice.
But she was only eight months into the business.
Flying to Toronto and investing in Face Up wasn’t an easy financial decision. It meant taking a real risk on a business that was still new — and, more importantly, taking a risk on herself.
Investing in herself was a real risk
Before, she could reach the end of a working week in agony from physically giving so much during her treatments.
Today, she says using her whole body differently while working has helped reduce her pain while improving her strength and balance. In her personal experience, she has also been able to stop using the Botox she previously received for pain management.
This wasn’t simply a new technique to add to her menu.
It changed what she believed a sustainable career could feel like.
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Face Up has changed the way I treat my own body and how I offer my services
Through Face Up, she began to understand those relationships differently.
But just as importantly, she began changing how she used her own body as a practitioner.
In 2022, she had experienced a concussion that left her dealing with ongoing pain.
Under her doctors’ recommendation, she had been using Botox for pain management. In her experience, however, the pain seemed to move through her body rather than simply disappear — from her head and neck into her jaw, platysma and chest.
She came to change the way she worked with clients. Her own body became part of the story.
One client noticed not only visible changes in her face, but changes in the way she holds her entire body:
For her, these results confirmed that she no longer wanted to return to the way she had previously been working.
“I would be doing myself a disservice to go back to the way I was offering service.”
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I can definitely feel the changes too. I catch myself correcting my posture and I notice that I hardly ever hold the tension in my jaw. My face feels way lighter too.
One of the reasons she originally chose Face Up was because she wanted clients to feel rather than “fix.”
Months later, that is exactly what they are describing.
Her clients started feeling the difference too
Since taking Face Up, her monthly revenue has increased by approximately 50%.
But perhaps the most interesting part is what she wants to do next.
Her goal isn’t simply to fit more clients into her week.
Today, she is moving towards making facial massage the primary niche of her practice.
TRather than simply adding Face Up to an already long treatment menu, she is refining the business around the kind of work she genuinely wants to do — including Face Up as a standalone service and a longer experience combining Face Up with the sensory elements of skincare.
And the shift has been working commercially too.
Now she is reshaping her business around the work she believes in
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I’m so grateful to be able to provide for my family financially and also adapt my schedule to work for my family’s needs.
She wants to continue growing her business while eventually working:
- 5 hours a day.
- 4 days a week.
So she can provide financially for her family, spend more time at home with her children and build a career that doesn’t require sacrificing her own body to sustain it.
Perhaps her own words still describe the transformation best:
That started with her clients.
It ended up changing much more.
It ended up changing much more.
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“Something to encourage clients to FEEL rather than ‘fix’.”
At 33, she came to Face Up wanting to offer her clients something deeper than another way to “fix” their faces.
Months later, her clients are feeling differently, her own body is feeling differently, her business has grown, and she is building a practice around the life she actually wants to have.
Her story is a good example of why Face Up was never designed as another facial massage protocol or a three-day hands-on course.
The face is only one part of what we study.
And the client is only one body in the room.
How the practitioner moves, breathes, uses their own body and nervous system, and how sustainably they can continue doing this work matters too.
A different definition of professional growth
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This has been a transformation that I’m proud to carry into my late 40s and for the rest of my life.
For Sarah, the transformation is not something that happened once — it is something that continues to unfold.
Today Sarah has fully transitioned into a Face Up Method practice. She has more energy than she has had in years, a healthier lifestyle, and a renewed love for the work she once thought she might have to leave behind.
She continues to practice Face Up Club herself and encourages her clients to integrate these practices into their everyday lives.
A new chapter